China successfully launches last satellite for its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System

China on Tuesday successfully launched the last satellite of its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), touted to be a competitor to the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the US, taking another step to becoming a major space power.

The satellite was launched on Tuesday morning from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

The satellite, the 55th in the family of BeiDou that means “Big Dipper” in Chinese, was successfully sent into space by a Long March-3B carrier rocket, according to the China Satellite Navigation Office, state-run CGTN reported.

The launch will mark the completion of the country’s domestically developed BeiDou network, one of the four global navigation networks alongside with the US’ GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and the European Union’s Galileo.